The pilot strike at SAA could be costing the national carrier up to R70m a day, according to a top aviation expert who has advised the airline to resolve it urgently.
Scores of travellers were left stranded from Thursday after a group of pilots affiliated with the SAA Pilots Association and the National Transport Movement refused to fly following a deadlock in wage negotiations.
On Friday, the association reported it had reduced the frequency of flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha and regional destinations such as Mauritius, Lagos, Lusaka and Windhoek just as peak holiday season began.
Aviation expert Guy Leitch said it was unclear how long it would take for the parties to reach an agreement but it could happen soon.
“If the airline was to turn over R700m in revenue this festive season and has now lost two-thirds of its ability to fly, my guess is they are losing R70m a day in revenue. These are significant numbers,” he said.
The pilots, who took a 50% pay cut when the national carrier went into business rescue in 2019, are demanding a 13% wage hike after reducing their earlier demand of a 30% pay rise. However, the airline is offering 8.6%.
SAA, which was on the brink of collapse a few years ago, surprised everyone when it announced it had turned a R252m profit from a R1bn loss the previous year. The state-owned airline also reported a 183% revenue increase from R2bn to R5.7bn. It was on the brink of selling a 51% equity stake to the Takatso Consortium, but the deal collapsed.
In a joint statement, the SAA Pilots Association and the National Transport Movement said despite negotiating in good faith, they believe SAA did not dedicate enough time to discussing critical issues.
“Unfortunately, despite an extended period of attempted negotiations, the company has only dedicated a total of 4½ days to substantive discussions over the past eight months,” it said.
SAA told would-be travellers that not all its pilots are on strike.
“We are continuing with negotiations; we are trying to shorten this strike as much as we can because SAA cannot afford to go through what it went through five years ago,” said SAA’s interim CEO Joseph Lamola.
We are continuing with negotiations; we are trying to shorten this strike as much as we can because SAA cannot afford to go through what it went through five years ago
In a written response to Business Times, the airline said it could not say how long the strike would last. However, it said passengers whose flights have been cancelled have been accommodated where possible.
The industrial action comes as tourism minister Patricia de Lille embarked on a roadshow in India to promote South Africa as a destination.
According to De Lille, SAA, which operated a direct flight between Johannesburg and Mumbai for 19 years before it was stopped in 2015, was considering reinstating the route.
She met airline operators in India to engage them on the possibility of direct flights between the two cities.
India is one of two countries the department is targeting for tourism growth, with a new visa system, the trusted tour operator scheme, set to kick in next month. This will allow for preregistration, expedited visa processing and dedicated visa adjudicators for citizens of mainland China and India.
De Lille said her visit was to strengthen collaboration and lay the groundwork for the future.
“India is the fifth largest global economy and has a growing middle class. Indian tourists are among the top spenders globally and are set to become the fourth largest global travel spenders by 2030. South Africa must tap into this market more to grow tourism between our countries and for South Africa to reach our target of 15-million arrivals annually by 2030,” she said.
According to the department of tourism, arrivals from India reached more than 95,000 in 2019 before falling during the Covid pandemic. The figure recovered to 79,000 in 2023.
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